Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Gender Inequality - Coggle Diagram
Gender Inequality
Education 1
Statistics from the DfES reveal a marked gender gap in attainment at every key stage. In 2006, 78% of girls obtained level 5 or above in English at key stage 3 compared to 64% of boys. At GCSE the pattern is very similar with 53% of boys gaining 5 GCSEs grades A*-C compared to 63% of girls.
2020 Gov statistics show that females make up a greater share of HE students (57%) and have a higher level of qualification among 19-64 year olds (46% with NQF level 4 or above compared to 42% for males).
Merton's 1948 labelling theory could be a reason for this. Ball (1981) claimed that schools stream students based on behaviour rather than ability.
As the DfES (2007) found that boys account for 80% of permanent exclusions and 75% of fixed term exclusions, this labelling and streaming of 'good' and 'bad' students could explain the underachievement of boys in education compared to girls.
Education 2
A converse argument is provided by Francis and Skelton (2005) who argue there is a moral panic exaggerated by the media about the underachievement of boys. Their achievement has been improving but it's just that girls have been improving faster.
Francis (2000) suggests that boys dominate in the classroom and in curriculum content. In 8 out of 10 classes boys were noisier than girls and dominated the teacher's attention.
However, Mitsos and Browne suggest that the attention that boys receive from teachers is often negative and this could disadvantage and de-motivate them. They suggest that teachers are also less strict with boys and allow them more leeway on deadlines.
This could explain the inequality in education between the genders and more specifically, the underachievement of boys.
Work and Pay 1
Despite the fact that women are now part of the workforce in increasing numbers, they tend to be found in low pay sectors of employment.
According to the DfWP (Department for Works and Pensions), among top doctors, for instance, 95% of men earned more than £450 a week, a figure reached by only 64% of women.
Women are gradually making their way into the higher paid sectors of employment, but rarely rise to the top of those professions in any significant numbers. This is often referred to as vertical segregration.
In addition, when professions do become feminised, such as teaching, there is often a loss of status and pay for the whole profession, e.g. teaching.
Work and Pay 2
The idea of vertical segregation is that within most occupational groups men and women are located at different levels. Women are decidedly under represented at the higher levels and it has been suggested that this is because of the 'glass ceiling', implying that women experience an invisible barrier beyond which is difficult for them to progress.
The Equal Opportunities Commission found that despite women making up 45% of Britain's workforce, only 9% of them are top company directors, a mere 6% are High Court judges and 29% are head teachers even though over 90% of teachers are female.
A factor that could contribute to this is evidenced by data collected by the Fawcett Foundation in that 54,000 women leave work each year because of being sacked or made redundant due to pregnancy. This discrimination by workplaces can cause set-backs for women in their careers, and explain this lack of women in top positions, showing the gender inequalities in work.